Drill steel guide



April 20, 1954 c, F. OSGOOD DRILL STEEL GUIDE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled June 12, 1944 MAWW M! April 20, 1954 c. F. OSGOOD 2,675,997

DRILL STEEL. GUIDE Original Filed June 12, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE DRILL STEEL GUIDEPennsylvania Continuation of application Serial No.

June 12, 1944. This ap Serial No. 755,428

1 Claim.

This invention relates to rock drills and more particularly to animproved guide for a drill steel of a rock drill of the mounted type.

In rock drills of the mounted type, the drilling motor which actuatesthe drill steel is usually mounted on an elongated guiding supportsuitably positioned near the face of the work, and feeding means isusually provided for moving the drilling motor either forwardly orrearwardly along the guiding support. For guiding the drill steel duringthe starting or spotting of a drill hole in the working face, there isusually provided at the forward end of the guiding support a guide formaintaining the drill steel in centered position, and it is desirablethat such guide be automatically released from the drill steel as thedrilling motor approaches the guide during forward feed, so thatundesired striking of the drilling motor against the guide is prevented,and movement of the forward end of the drilling motor forwardly past thesteel guide may be per-- mitted. In certain types of mounted rockdrills, such as wagon or tower drills, it is also desirable to effectautomatic release of the guide from the drill steel as the drillingmotor is: fed rearwardly along the guiding support subsequently to thestarting of a hole with a short drill steel, thereby to preventaccidental striking of the drill bit against the steel guide, andpermitting movement of the drill bit rearwardly past the steel guide. Itis accordingly desirable in such drills to provide a steel guide whichis always automatically released from the drill steel when the drillingmotor assumes a predetermined position on its guiding support duringeither forward feed or retraction along the support-guideways to preventthe drilling motor and the drill bit from striking against the guidewhile the latter is held in steel guiding position, thereby eliminatingthe possibility of damage to the guide or other drill parts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved drillsteel guide which is automatically moved out of guiding relation withthe drill steel when the drilling motor assumes a predetermined positionalong the guideways of its guiding support irrespective of the directionof movement of the drilling motor along the suppcrt-guideways. Anotherobject is to provide an improved drill steel guide which is alwaysautomatically released from guiding relation with the drill steel as thedrilling motor is fed in either of opposite directions along its guidingsupport. A further object is to provide an improved drill steel guidewhich is always automatically released plication June 18, 1947,

from the drill steel either by direct engagement of the drilling motortherewith as the latter is red forwardly along its guiding support or bydirect engagement of the drill bit with said guide as the drilling motoris fed rearwardly along the guiding support. Yet another object is toprovide an improved drill steel guide having improved mounting means forthe guiding elements thereof and improved means for holding the guidingelements in guiding relation with the drill steel. A still furtherobject is to provide an improved drill steel guide having the guidingelements thereof mounted for translatory movement in relatively oppositedirections from their looked guiding position. A further object is toprovide an improved means for holding the guiding elements in steelguiding position and wherein the locking means is releasable bytranslatory movement or either or the guiding elements relative to theother. Yet another object is to provide an improved drill steel guidewherein the guiding elements are locked directly together in steelguiding position, and wherein the guiding elements are moved out oflocked relation by direct engag ment of the drilling motor with one ofthe guiding elements or by direct engagement of the drill bit with theother of the guiding elements. Other objects and advantages of theinvention will, however, hereinafter more fully appear.

This application is a continuation of my application, Serial No.539,833, filed June 12, 194%, now abandoned.

In the accompanying drawings there are shown for purposes ofillustration two forms which the invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevational View of a mounted rock drillwith which an illustrative embodiment of the invention is associated.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig.1, showing the drill steel guide in front elevation.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 3-4 of Fig.1 and illustrating strum tural details.

Fig. i is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane of Fig. 3, showingthe steel guide in its wide open, non-guiding position.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View taken on line 5-6 of Fig. 1,illustrating the interlock between the guiding elements.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view,

similar to Fig. 1, illustrating another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 8-8 of Fig.7, showing the guide in front elevation.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line 9-9 of Fig.7, showing the steel guide in guiding position.

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane of Fig. 9, showingthe guide in its wide open, non-guiding position.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on line HH ofFig. '7.

Fig. 12 is a detail sectional view taken on line 12-42 of Fig. '7,showing the guide interlock.

In both illustrative embodiments of the invention, the improved drillsteel guide is shown associated with a conventional rock drill of themounted type. It will be evident, however, that the improved guide maybe associated with tools of various other types.

The rock drill disclosed herein comprises a conventional hole drillingmechanism herein a drilling motor or drill steel actuator I mounted formovement back and forth along the guideways 2, 2 of a conventionalguiding support 3. The drilling motor is of a well known pressure fluidoperated, percussive type having a motor cylinder 4 provided withlateral guides 5, slidingly received in the guideways 2. The motorcylinder contains a usual reoiprocatory hammer piston for percussivelyactuating a drill steel 5 suitably mounted in a front chuck housing i,the latter in turn being suitably attached to the front end of the motorcylinder. The drill steel carries a usual detachable drill bit 8 havinga rearwardly facing annular shoulder 9 of larger diameter than the steelbody. The drilling motor i may be fed along the guideways of the guidingsupport in any conventional manner either manually or by power, and, inthis instance, a conventional motor driven feed screw, journaled on theguide shell, and engaging a non-rotatable feed nut carried by the motorcylinder, is employed to feed the percussive motor. Since, as abovestated, the rock drill is of a conventional design and is well known tothose skilled in the art, further disclosure thereof is hereinunnecessary.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 6inclusive, it will be noted that attached, as by a pair oflongitudinally extending, parallel bolts II, to the forward end of theguiding support 3 are parallel, front and rear, transverse end-plates i2and 13, held in proper spaced relation by spacing sleeves is surroundingthe bolts between the plates. Formed integral with the rear end-plate isa centrally located bearing boss l5 in which a front bearing portion itof the feed screw is journaied, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Pivotallymounted on the spacing sleeves i l intermediate the plates i2 and it,for swinging movement in transverse planes, are the hubs I! of a pair ofcooperating guide arms I8 and 19. These guide arms are identical indesign and each has an appropriately shaped guiding portion 20 forengaging the drill steel. The guide arms are reversely positionedbetween the plates and are mounted on the spacing sleeves it fortranslatory sliding movement in relatively opposite directions,lengthwise of the drill steel. Arranged between the end-plates andengaging the arm hubs H are combined torsion and compression springs 2|,2|, and one of the arms is held by its spring in a rearward positionagainst the front surface of the rear plate while the other arm is heldby its spring in a forward position against the rear surface of thefront plate, in the manner shown in Fig. 5. These springs are each atone end secured to an endplate and at their other end to an arm hub, andconstantly tend to swing the arms outwardly toward their wide open,non-guiding position. The guiding portions 20 of the arms haveprojections 22 which are disposable in laterally overlapping,interlocking relation, as shown in Fig. 6, to hold the guide armsagainst outward swinging movement in guiding relation with the drillsteel. The arms are held together in interlocked relation against theaction of the torsion springs. One of the guide arms (the one whose hubnormally rests against plate [3) has a rearward projection 23 which isengageable by the front end of the chuck housing l of the drilling motorwhile the other arm has a forward projection 25 which is engageable bythe rearwardly facing shoulder 9 of the drill bit, in a manner to belater explained. The arm hubs have projections 25 which are engageablewith abutments 2E on the end-plates to limit outward swinging movementof the arms.

The mode of operation of the embodiment above described will be clearlyapparent from the description given. When the rock drill is suitablypositioned with respect to the working face and it is desired to startor spot a drill hole, the guide arms is and i9 may be manually swunginwardly against the action of the torsion springs from the positionshown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 3, and one of the arms maybe slid translationally along its spacing sleeve to bring its projection22 in interlocking relation with the projection on the other arm so thatthe guiding portions 20 are interlocked together to hold the guide armsin guiding relation with the steel. The coil springs 2! are undercompression and serve to hold the arms against the endplates while inthis interlocked steel guiding position, and the torsion springs,tending to swing the arms apart, hold the interlocked projections 22tightly together. After the drilling motor has been fed along theguideways of the guiding support to feed the drill bit 8 toward the workand the drill bit has penetrated the work a substantial distance, thefront end of the chuck housing l engages the projection 23 on the arm l9to slide the latter forwardly translationally along its spacing sleeveinto a position wherein its locking projection 22 is released from thelocking projection on the other arm to free both arms for ou wardswinging movement, and thereafter the torsion springs act quickly toswing the guide arms apart into their wide open, non-guiding positionshown in Fig. 4 so that, upon continued forward movement of the drillingmotor, the chuck housing may move between the guide arms forwardly pastthe guide. When the drill hole is started or spotted with a short drillsteel, as is frequently the case in wagon or tower drills, it is alsodesirable to have the steel guide open automatically as the drill bit isretracted from the work, and, during rearward movement of the drillingmotor along the support guideways, the rearwardly facing shoulder 9 onthe drill bit engages the projection 24 on the arm 18 to move the lattertranslationally rearwardly along its spacing sleeve to release itsprojection 22 from interlocking relation with the projection on theother arm. When the guide arms are unlocked, the torsion springs actquickly to swing the arms wide apart so that, upon continued rearwardmovement of the drilling motor, the drill bit may move rearwardly pastthe guide arms. It is accordingly evident that irrespective of thedirection of movement of the drilling motor along the support-guideways,the guide arms are always automatically released from guiding relationwith the drill steel, thereby to prevent either the chuck housing or thedrill bit striking against the guide while the latter is held closed,which might result in damage to the guide or other drill parts. When theguide arms reach their wide open, non-guiding position as shown in Fig.l, the arm projections 25 engage the end-plate abutments 26 so thatfurther outward movement of the arms is prevented.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 7 to 12 inclusive, theend-plates, attaching bolts and spacing sleeves are similar to thoseabove described. In this construction, a pair of cooperating guide arms30 and 3| have hubs 32 pivotally mounted on the spacing sleeves andhaving appropriately shaped portions 33 and 34 for engaging the drillsteel and disposable together in interlocked relation, as shown in Fig.12. The arm 30 is held against translatory sliding movement along itsspacing sleeve by a rearwardly facing shoulder 35 on an enlarged portion36 of the sleeve, and a torsion spring 3? surrounding the sleeve betweenthe front endplate and the arm hub constantly urges the arm outwardlyabout its pivot toward its wide open, non-guiding position. The otherarm 3| is mounted on its spacing sleeve for translatory sliding movementand is held by a combined torsion and compression spring 38 rearwardlyagainst the front surface of the rear plate. The springs each have oneend secured to the front plate and the other end attached to an arm hub.The arm hubs have projections 39 engageable with abutments 40 on therear plate for limiting outward swinging movement of the arms, in themanner shown in Fig. 10. The arm3l has a rearward projection 4|engageable by the front end of the chuck housing.

The mode of operation of this modified embodiment is as follows: As thedrilling motor is fed forwardly along the support-guideways during feedof the drill bit toward the work and the drill bit has penetrated thework a substantial distance, the front end of the chuck housing 1engages the projection 4| on the arm 3| and slides the arm 3|translationally forwardly along its spacing sleeve into a positionwherein the interlocking relation between the steel engaging portions 33and 34 of the arms is released. When the guide arms are unlocked, thetorsion springs act quickly to swing the arms about their pivots intothe wide open, non-guiding position shown in Fig. 10, so that, asforward feed of the drilling motor continues, the chuck housing may moveforwardly between the guide arms beyond the guide. In this embodiment,release of the guide by the drill steel during retraction of thepercussive motor is not present, and the guide is releasableautomatically from the drill steel only by direct engagement of thedrilling motor there with during forward feed of the drilling motor.

When the arms reach their wide open, nonguiding position shown in Fig.10, the arm projections 39 engage the plate abutments 43 to preventfurther outward swinging movement. The arms 30 and 3| may be swunginwardly manually from the position shown in Fig. 10 to the positionshown in Fig. 9 against the action of the torsion springs, and the arm3| may be slid forwardly translationally along its spacing sleeve andthen rearwardly to bring the steel engaging portions of the arms ininterlocked relation.

As a result of this invention, it will be noted that an improved drillsteel guide is provided which has the steel engaging portions of itsguide arms connectible together in interlocked relation, and releasableupon translatory movement of one arm relative to the other arm. It willfurther be evident that an improved drill steel guide is provided whichis automatically released from guiding relation with the drill steelwhen the drilling motor assumes a predetermined position on its guidingsupport. In one embodiment, the steel guide is automatically releasedfrom guiding relation with the drill steel during either forward orreverse movement of the drilling motor along the support guideways. Itwill further be evident that by the improved manner of mounting andarrangement of the guide arms, the steel guide is automatically releasedfrom guiding relation with the drill steel in an extremely effeetivemanner. Further, by interlocking the steel engaging portions of the armsdirectly together and by effecting release of the guide arms by bodilymovement of one guide arm relative to the other, all complicatedreleasing and actuating devices are eliminated. Other uses andadvantages of the improved drill steel guide will be clearly apparent tothose skilled in the art.

While there are in this application specifically described two formswhich the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood thatthese forms of the same are shown for purposes of illustration and thatthe invention may be modified and embodied in various other formswithout departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A drill steel guide comprising a pair of coacting guide arms movablerelative to each other and having guiding portions adapted to embracethe body of a drill steel for guiding the latter, pivotproviding andguiding means for mounting said guide arms for pivotal movement intransverse planes into and out of guiding relation with the drill steeland for bodily guided movement one relative to the other in relativelyopposite directions from their normal guiding positions lengthwise ofthe drill steel, said mounting means including oppositely extending,parallel, longitudinal guides along which said arms are guided for suchbodily movement, oppositely acting coil springs surrounding said guidesand acting on said arms respectively for urging said arms in relativelyopposite directions along their guides from their guiding positions, andreleasable locking means for locking said guide arms directly togethernear the guiding portions thereof in steel guiding position andyieldingly held in locked position by said oppositely acting springs,such bodily movement of either one of said guide arms from its guidingposition along its guide relative to the other arm eifecting release ofsaid locking means, said springs opposing movement of said arms towardtheir unlocked positions.

Name Date Curtis Sept. 29, 1936 Curtis June 6, 1944 Number

